I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA)
Interview
First phone interview with recruiter consisted of basic screening questions. Would I move to Cupertino, salary requirements, availability for second interview with engineer, etc. Took about 5 minutes.
Next interview was with an engineering manager. We talked for 45 minutes about my resume and she asked me a few technical-ish questions. Next, I talk to another engineering manager, same rank as last interviewer, about my experience. No technical questions.
I applied online. A recruiter followed up and scheduled me for a phone screen. I passed the phone screen and was given a 1 week design test of a sample product. After delivering the test I was scheduled for a two day onsite interview. The interview was pretty shocking. Very high pressure and really a test of material science knowledge I don't use at my current job. No behavioral or background questions were asked. After the first day I was emailed at mid night to say they would give me a shot for the second day which was pretty unprofessional. Not a good fit in either direction and no one ever bothered to call me to tell me the results (not that I needed them to).
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in Sep 2016
Interview
Recruiter phone screen, phone interview with an engineer, a huge engineering design challenge, and an all day onsite interview panel. What a COLOSSAL MEGA waste of my time, I cannot emphasize enough how pointless this was... they required a full design review of an assembly product that you have to design several versions of a product, model in CAD, run tolerance stack up analysis, FEA, material selection, manufacturing assumptions, force balancing, etc. as if the assembly was going to be actually manufactured tomorrow. They liked my design so they brought me in. The onsite was a firing squad: they run you through absurd conceptual problems that are not based in reality and will do anything to get you in a corner. It does not matter how much work you put into the project (i went above and beyond and included all the above in a 50 pg PPT, as well as fully dimensioned 11x17 prints, hi-res renders, and 3D printed parts) but it doesn't matter, they gloss over that and WILL find the one aspect that is weakest and will press it until you don't know what more to say. They don't look for you to be a good fit they look for ANY reason at all to NOT hire you. And after all that effort they will send a general BS email, "thanks for your interest in apple but we are looking for other people". What a waste of 2 days of PTO and several nights on CAD for 2 weeks...
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
If you are in a boat with a boulder and you drop that boulder into the lake how does the water level before and after you drop the boulder in the lake compar?
You have 3 light bulbs upstairs and 3 light switches downstairs but don't know which switch connects to witch bulb. How can you switch the bulbs once and then go upstairs and immediately know which switch belongs to which bulb?